


We Should Cuddle for Warmth

by thenakednymph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I hate those days I can't get warm, M/M, enjoy?, half naked cuddling, klance, loosely based on an experience I had with my ex, so of course I decided to write it into a fic, thankfully he had a solution, what even is this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 15:25:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16621562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenakednymph/pseuds/thenakednymph
Summary: The heat on the Castle is broken and Lance and Keith are both freezing.~You read the title, that's it, that's the fic.





	We Should Cuddle for Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't nearly as angsty or emotional as it could be. I may have to do a part 2.

“It's freezing,” Keith mutters, chafing at his arms through his jacket. He and Lance are walking back to their rooms and they're both more irritable than normal. The heating in the castle is on the fritz and Pidge is working with Coran and Allura to fix it as quickly as possible. Until then they just have to layer up and deal. The problem is, it doesn't seem to be working. 

Keith in particular doesn't seem to be taking the cold well. He was shaking all through breakfast and even their combat training suffered, Keith unable to focus and his reaction time slowed. Even now Lance can see goosebumps on his skin. His own fingers are numb with the cold and he stuffs them deeper in his pockets in an attempt to warm the feeling back into them.

There's a lingering fear in the back of Lance's mind that they could die out here, frozen in space. Coran warned them the temperature could dip low enough for them to see their breath before the heat is fixed. It's not a thought Lance is comfortable with. Allura assured them if that were the case they'd land on a habitable planet, hopefully someplace tropical, to finish repairs. 

They pass Lance’s door and Keith walks by, still clutching his arms to himself and muttering under his breath.

“Keith?” Lance's hand lingers on the door controls as he calls out, his voice tight as he tries to keep his teeth from chattering. Keith turns and scowls and Lance swallows, looking away. Maybe this is a bad idea. “Look, um…” he chews on his lip and stares at the wall. “I can help,” he offers awkwardly, hurrying on before Keith can show too much interest. “But you're not gonna like it,” he warns.

Keith's eyes are intense and watching Lance with a predatory gleam, a dark scowl on his face.

“Will it get me warm,” he grinds out through chattering teeth and it's barely a question. 

Lance straightens under his gaze, resolve firming. 

“Yes,” he says simply and Keith storms back towards him, arms still crossed tightly over his chest.

“Good,” he snarls and Lance barely has enough time to open the door before Keith is walking in. 

Lance rolls his eyes to the ceiling and whispers “give me strength” before following him. 

The air in his room isn't much better than the hallway which is already frigid and Lance shivers, pulling his jacket off and tossing it aside with his boots, mourning the loss of what little body heat he'd been able to generate.

Keith is frozen in place, still clutching at his jacket and watching. Mute horror seems to be dawning on him but he doesn't move. 

“Strip,” Lance orders, pulling off his socks and shirt. Goosebumps ripple over his skin and he shivers in the artificial light. 

“I swear to God, Lance,” Keith grinds out, “if your solution to warming me up is sex…” his voice trails off in warning and Lance flushes but still laughs as he finishes shucking out of his pants. 

“I didn't think of that actually.” He strokes his chin thoughtfully and grins. “It's an idea though.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively but the effect is ruined when he shivers.

Keith glares a moment longer, shifting on his feet. “Your solution to the cold is what then? Naked cuddling?” The blush warming his face is adorable and Lance struggles to control his feelings because now he's beginning to feel awkward and self-conscious standing in front of Keith in nothing but his boxers.

“Half-naked cuddling,” he amends. 

Keith's scowl darkens and Lance shrugs as easily as he can when he's shivering. “I told you, you wouldn't like it,” he says easily, spreading his arms before shifting his weight to one hip, trying to seem casual. Was the floor always this cold?

“So are you coming or what? Because I'm freezing my ass of right now.” His teeth are starting to chatter. 

Keith watches him suspiciously before glancing at the bed. “You swear this is gonna work?” he asks and Lance crosses a finger over his heart, trying to keep his hands from trembling. 

“Cross my heart.” He grins but it slowly slips into something more considering. He knows how Keith is about touch and how awkward this is. He shouldn't be teasing him. Probably shouldn't have offered really, but  the thought of another warm body alongside him was so damn tempting. 

“No funny business,” he says softly and Keith glances up at him. “Promise.” A grin pulls at the side of his mouth, he can't help it. “I won't even tell anyone we cuddled,” he teases and for some reason that has Keith's posture relaxing as he rolls his eyes to the ceiling and slips out of his jacket. 

“I hate you,” he mutters, kicking off his boots and pulling his shirt off over his head. 

“You say that now,” Lance says, trying really hard not to stare. “But you won't be in about three minutes.”

“We’ll see.” He finishes stripping out of his clothes and stands there awkwardly, feet shifting on the cold metal floor. 

Lance lifts the covers with a hand and gestures. “After you.”

Keith flushes but crawls into the bed.

“Scoot.” Lance nudges him over with a hip, pulling his tablet onto the bed with him, wrapping them both up in the blanketsw

. Keith is tense in the bed next to him as Lance flips through a selection of the Altean films he’s pilfered from Pidge and puts one on. He reaches around Keith and sets up the tablet, pressing play before laying down and scooting closer, pressing up all along Keith's back. 

“What are you doing?” he grinds out as Lance props up his pillows, leaning his head on his other arm.

“Relax princess, I'm not gonna hurt you,” he says, laying down again. The movie begins as Lance forces himself to relax, tucking his legs up under Keith's, wrapping and arm around his chest and pulling him flush against him. They're both blushing. 

Lance is desperate to fill the awkward silence so he does what he always does, talks. 

“I had a girlfriend who couldn't get warm one night, we never figured out why,” he says and his voice is oddly soft, “but I know she had a problem with her circulation so it was hard for her to get warm and stay warm when she was cold. So we stripped down and huddled for warmth. Seemed to work.” He chaffes at one of Keith's arms, angled just right so he can watch the movie over Keith's shoulder. “And you are seriously freezing.” 

“'m not that cold,” Keith mutters, face still red.

“Dude, your lips are blue.”

Keith's fingers linger over his mouth like he can feel the color but then he tucks his hand back against his chest under Lance's arm and Lance tucks the blanket back around them. 

“You're welcome to leave whenever you want.” 

Keith seems to consider it and Lance's face falls. He bites the inside of his cheek to try and keep his expression neutral. He's enjoying having Keith in his arms for once. 

Keith comes to a decision, settling deeper into the bed and subsequently into Lance's chest and Lance breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Actually I'm starting to warm up so,” he shrugs and his voice trails off. Lance can't help his smile and relaxes against him. Keith still feels awkward but he can't deny that the heat of Lance against his back is helping to chase off the cold. 

They watch the movie in silence, the heat spreading between them both in their little nest and Lance is relieved when Keith finally stops shivering and the tension in his body goes slack.

Keith startles when Lance reaches up and smooths a hand over his hair. 

“Sorry,” he says softly. “Couldn't see.” Lance shifts behind him, pressing his cheek against Keith's head, watching the screen. “This okay?” Keith nods slowly and Lance smiles into his hair. “Good.” 

He’s warm and relaxed and content to have company for once. He doesn't realize he's tracing small patterns into Keith's skin with his fingers, sleep clinging to his eyes. Keith is languid and relaxed against him.

“I thought you hated me.” Keith's whisper has Lance blinking fully awake and he sits up, jostling them both, looking down at Keith in surprise. Keith who's still lying stubbornly on his side and not looking at him, his body gone rigid again. Lance touches his arm and gives a gentle tug trying to get Keith to roll towards him. He does without much convincing and Lance sees his expression is shuttered. 

A smile starts in Lance's eyes and works its way down to his mouth.

“Dude, what part of lying in my bed half-naked made you think I hated you?”

To his delight Keith flushes again and Lance can't help the way his heart skips at the sight.

“I don't know,” Keith mumbles, turning to hide his face in the pillow. “The stupid rivalry, how we always seem to fight all the time.” There's something sad and vulnerable in his voice that makes Lance's heart fall. 

“Do you-” He frowns, watching Keith who is doing an impressive job of hiding behind his hair. Lance wants to tuck it behind his ear, to see him, but doesn't. “You don't have any siblings do you,” he asks softly, a furrow between his brows.

“Are you making fun of me?” Keith snaps, finally glaring up at him and Lance frowns, thrown by what he considers to be a violent reaction to an innocuous question. 

“No! Of course I'm not making fun of you.” Without conscious thought he reaches out and tucks Keith's hair behind his ear like he'd been thinking about. “Look, are you-” He scrubs a hand down his face struggling to find out what it is he's trying to say.

“I have a younger brother.” He stares down at Keith intently. “We fight all the time. About everything. Everything is a competition. Whether it's a race to the shower or who gets to drive or who can finish breakfast first. Everything is a competition. We yell and squabble and fight.” There's a wide smile on his face Keith doesn't understand. 

Lance flops down on the pillow next to him. “When I found out he was having trouble at school, that a couple of the other kids were picking on him, do you know what happened?”

Keith shakes his head, not sure where Lance is going with this. 

Lance huffs a laugh. “I kicked their asses.” He says it like it's obvious. “Got suspended for that one. Literally got into a fist fight in the middle of the hall.”

Keith's eyebrows knit together like he doesn't understand. “Why?” 

Lance is briefly flabbergasted. “Because he's my brother and I love him. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I'm the only one allowed to pick on him. It is my brotherly right. The same as it's his to pick on me. We fight a lot, but when it comes down to it I know he's got my back and he knows I've got his.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Keith says, clearly frustrated and confused. 

“It's the same thing.” Lance shifts his weight on his elbow, staring down at Keith. “You're my brother and I love you.” He says it like it's the easiest thing in the world, a nagging little voice in his head whispering that you shouldn’t want to date your brother. He ignores it, tucking a lock of hair behind Keith's ear again.

“I'd walk into hell with or for you,” he says slowly and the words come out softer than he'd intended. “Even knowing I wouldn't make it out the other side.” His voice is frank and direct and said with so much sincerity and heartfelt conviction Keith doesn't know what to do with it. Lance holds his eyes and he can't breathe.

Keith flushes and tucks his head. “Why are you telling me this?” he mumbles into the pillow.

Lance ducks his head, trying to catch Keith's gaze. “Because the others already know it,” he says gently. “And I thought you did too.” Keith peeks up at him, feeling strangely vulnerable. 

“So that's what this has been all this time? The nagging and nit picking?”

Lance gives an easy shrug. “Yeah. I never really mean any of it. I'm just...bonding?” His face twists up as he says it. “Except when I say it like that it sounds stupid.” 

“Little bit, yeah.”

“Fuck you,” he throws back and Keith smiles. 

“Aw, you do care.”

Lance scowls but now Keith can see the humor behind it. The affection. 

“Shut up and watch the movie dick head.” Lance shoves his shoulder and Keith flips back onto his side, focusing his attention back on the screen as Lance lays down behind him, wrapping an arm around Keith's waist again. 

It's somehow less than he wants and more than he was hoping for, but he can feel something between them changing and hopes it’s a shift in a good direction. 


End file.
